Saxons denied by late leveller

Sam Bunday was South Saxons' man of the match in the 2-2 draw away to Folkestone II.

Published:11:51Wednesday 20 December 2017

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South Saxons Hockey Club’s men’s first team picked up a point in its final fixture of 2017.

The Horntye Park-based outfit drew 2-2 away to Folkestone seconds on Saturday to reach the midway point of its South Hockey League Kent/Sussex - Regional 2 season in fifth place.

In a fixture postponed the previous weekend due to a frozen pitch and subsequently rescheduled, Saxons fell behind to a goal from a Folkestone short corner.

The Hastings side was determined not to head into the Christmas break on the back of a defeat, however, and the equaliser came through a clinical short corner drag flick by George Eldridge.

With confidence boosted by the goal, Saxons found their flow and began to dominate possession. They took the lead early in the second half when Alex Coombs scored with an expertly-placed reverse stick strike.

Saxons dominated the remainder of the contest and showed great team discipline, but were unable to hang on to the lead as Folkestone grabbed a late breakaway equaliser.

Despite competition from Eldridge’s superb distribution, Nick Taylor’s threatening runs down the right and Jamie Busbridge’s excellent penetrations into the D, man of the match went to defender Sam Bunday for finally making it through a match without giving away a penalty corner.

Saxons, who are only a point behind third-placed Marden Russets, have won five and drawn three of their 11 league games to date, two of the wins coming against leaders Kings & Alleyns and second-placed Ashford.

Their next league game is away to bottom-of-the-table Horsham seconds on Saturday January 13, but before that they have a Sussex 1st XI Cup quarter-final away to Lewes on January 6.

* SOUTH Saxons’ ladies’ first team won 1-0 at home to East Grinstead thirds on Saturday to move out of the bottom two in the Sussex Ladies’ League Premier Division.